AC Milan and Inter are now the official owners of San Siro and the surrounding area, after the deed of sale was signed.
The signatures were expected on Wednesday, and sure enough they have arrived. Luca Bianchin of La Gazzetta dello Sport has confirmed on social media that the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is now owned by Milan and Inter as of today.
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Signed, sealed, delivered
This morning the deed was completed with the signatures. The meeting started at 7:30 and wrapped up around midday. The final procedures are currently underway, and he adds that the clubs have already begun the design phase for the new stadium.
The clubs needed to acquire ownership of the stadium by Monday because the architectural restrictions on the second tier would come into effect on November 10th, meaning it could not be demolished.
Inter and Milan will receive a loan of approximately €100m from banks and will pay the first instalment of €73m to the City Council. The price of the stadium and surrounding areas, determined by the Revenue Agency, will be €197m. The Council will contribute €22m towards this cost.
Now it’s official
An official announcement has now come from both clubs regarding the news, with the statement published on Milan’s official website as well as that of Inter.
“AC Milan and FC Internazionale Milano today announce the signing of the deed of sale with the Municipality of Milan for the acquisition of the San Siro Great Urban Function, including the Meazza Stadium and its surrounding area.
“The construction of the new stadium and the urban regeneration project for the San Siro district represents a new chapter for the City of Milan and both Clubs. The strategic milestone reflects the shared ambition of AC Milan and Inter and their respective owners, RedBird and funds managed by Oaktree, for long-term sporting success and value-enhancing investment to support the Clubs’ sustainable growth.
“The Clubs have entrusted Foster + Partners and MANICA with the design and development of the new world-class stadium and the masterplan for the surrounding area. The stadium will meet the highest international standards and is destined to become a new architectural icon for the City of Milan.
“As part of the project, a new center of excellence will also be established, reflecting the sporting and cultural vocation that defines the San Siro district and the entire city, while redefining the urban space through innovation, sustainability and accessibility.
“The transaction, completed through Stadio San Siro S.p.A., was supported by a financing provided by international banking institutions Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, as co-lead arrangers, and by the Clubs’ banking partners, Banco BPM and BPER Banca.”
All the talk has been around this deal has focussed on the new project, but interested to know what the immediate gains from this are. The new stadium is obviously years off so what will be the positive impact on revenue over the next five years?
Like does this give us room for a higher wage bill?
Don’t hold me completely up on the numbers here but I think there recently was an interview with either Cardinale or Scaroni who professed that they estimated it would mean that both clubs would be able to earn roughly 80 mil more pr. year.
Over the next five years? If anything it will be negative impact on our finance – as we will still use San Siro for now (without paying rent of) and still need to finance the development of the new stadium. After the stadium is finished, that’s new story – we will finally able to get increased revenue from ticket sales, sponsorship, naming rights etc.
That’s accounted for though. Obviously the actual cost of the new stadium outweighs short term revenue gains but thats the same as subtracting the cost of your house, rather than your yearly mortgage repayment, when trying to work out your disposable income.
The loans used to finance development should be relatively cheap, given it’s a low-risk and diversified infrastructure project. It’s also common to defer interest, fully or partially, until the revenue phase of the project.
If everything goes as planned, a couple of years from now, finance folks will be weighing, say, future player wages and transfer cost amortisation VS projected revenues. So we might have a bit more room to spend sooner. But not in a dramatic way.
Man, 15 years in the making. It’s going to be a while yet, but it’s a huge step.
it’s a step for sure. Like so many others asked, i wonder the impact of this in the short term. Like from now till the new stadium is completed, are we like Spurs ? ( barely able to compete because we are paying the stadium) , Or like a Barca/Madrid/Bayern who were able to still operate? If it’s ours, do we pay rent? .. lol so many questions, but we all feel this is a step in the right direction
Of course we wont pay rent 😀 but maybe you was just trying to be funny there. Building stadiums or training grounds or other infrastructure doesn’t affect ffp if that was what you was hinting at in regard of affecting us short term.
Negligible. The current stadium doesn’t have the cash generating facilities that the new one will have, like exec boxes, concessions, fan zones, etc. And I think we will still be paying the equivalent of the current rent to the city over the remaining life of the former (current) lease agreement that was supposed to expire in 2032 if I’m not mistaken. But that doesn’t matter. There is a better future now.
😀 Ha, I might have completely misunderstood Daniels question then, my apologies to him then.
Well I think you are right there that the remaining stadium lease contract with the municipality will still have to be by both clubs unless its somehow incorporated within the sale but I do believe the original deal ran until 2030.
Yeah, maybe 2030, not sure. The point was that becoming owners of San Siro will not much change the immediate financial outlook for the clubs, as it is a facility that doesn’t generate much revenue beyond turnstiles. We don’t save on rent because, as you said, we either pay off the remaining lease in the purchase, or continue to pay it as if we are still leasing (so just paying it off over time really). I don’t think we’ll start making money until the new stadium is done.
No question there the money will only start flowing when its finally build in 2032.
Happy this thing is finally off the ground and running. Not happy that we’re having to share it with Inter. Now they have a 30mil headache at San Donato.
I also would have much preferred our own ground, but when if our cost to build is 600M vs 1.2bn, it means we will have more money to spend sooner because we’re paying 50% less than we would have, while still reaping 100% of matchday revenues. So free cash flow will be greater sooner. I bet they sell Milanello, which would be sad, and move the training center to San Donato. Or maybe they’ll build a smaller stadium, 10-15K, for the women’s team and Futuro?
Didn’t Cardinale want to build a Basketball team or something?
Maybe San Donato will still be Milan-Land for him after all. Just for a different sport =P